Ripple Cryptocurrency Aims to Make Global Assets Liquid XRP

 

One one level, Ripple is another cryptocurrency in an ever-growing  list of fledgling products, hoping to earn a place in the wider world of  business and finance. While the value of Ripple's currency, XRP, is  well below $1 per unit, making it a mere fraction of the value of  Ethereum or Bitcoin, Ripple  nonetheless sports the third-largest portion of market capitalization  as compared with the rest of the cryptocurrency industry. But aside  from its growing position as a currency, Ripple is drawing more and more  attention from banks and financial institutions around the world for  another crucial reason, too: the blockchain technology behind the  currency itself. 

Ripple Aims to Build an "Internet of Value"

A recent profile on Ripple by American Banker  reveals that the San Francisco-based startup has its sights set on  creating an "internet of value," a worldwide network system for  financial transactions. Ripple's goal is nothing less than the ultimate  freeing of monetary value, allowing assets to flow instantly and  seamlessly between mobile systems, public blockchains,  and bank ledgers. The goal is a massive one, and yet Stefan Thomas,  Ripple's chief technology officer, stands behind his company's ability  to enhance banking around the world. "We're not the disruptors, we're  not the guys who come in and tear everything down," he stresses. 

But in the Meantime...

For the time being, though, Ripple seems to occupy at least two  different spaces. First comes the cryptocurrency side, and success in  that area has not come as quickly as some would have liked. John Light, a  consultant working with multiple startups that have integrated Ripple's  technology into their systems, indicated that Ripple has "had something  of an identity crisis about who their customer is, and what problem  they are trying to solve." First, the company aimed to build a new currency that would improve  upon Bitcoin. This was a key component of the instantaneous transactions  goal, as Bitcoin has been racked with problems relating to the system's  processing capacity which has left some users waiting for days for  their transactions to clear. Beyond that, though, Ripple differed from  Bitcoin and other digital currencies further, even at its earliest  stages. Ripple's leaders disagreed with other cryptocurrency enthusiasts  who suggested that the new currencies could replace banks or even  government currencies. Rather, Ripple aimed from the beginning to work  with banks to make global assets even more liquid. With roughly 60 financial institutions around the world sporting Ripple technology,  the company is seeing its vision begin to take shape. However, the fact  that the currency itself has not gone away makes the list of offerings  that Ripple presents somewhat confusing. If banks and investors around  the world are to continue to gain interest in Ripple, it seems that the  company will be best served by streamlining its offerings further into  the future.

Source: Investopedia http://www.investopedia.com/news/ripple-cryptocurrency-aims-make-global-assets-liquid